A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story
by judybear236
Summary: So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!
1. Chapter 1

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 1:

Pete was standing at his desk, one hand on the intercom, "Nancy? Isn't Mac…?"

Just then MacGyver entered Pete's office, dropping himself into one of the easy chairs facing the desk."Hi, Pete. Sorry it took so long…"

Pete was speaking at the same time, "MacGyver! Where have you been? It's been over an hour since you said you were leaving…"

"Whoa, Pete, slow down! I'm here, OK? Now, what's so urgent it couldn't wait?"

Pete sat at his desk and took a deep breath, "You could have called, you know."

MacGyver shifted his position to sitting crosswise in the chair as Pete frowned at him. "I'm sorry, but the car needed…"

"Oh, never mind that. Look, what I need you for is something a little bit out of the ordinary … well, not THAT out of the …" He looked up to see Mac folding a sheet of paper into an airplane. "Are you paying attention?"

"Of course I am. Now what is it that you're trying not to say?"

Pete looked at MacGyver and shook his head, "OK. There's a waste-treatment plant in Wisconsin – the ABD Corporation. They've applied to expand their operation, but they don't have a very commendable track record. AND it looks like they may be implicated in some shady deals and deliberate dumping."

Mac continued to fiddle with the paper airplane, "If it's deliberate, why haven't they been shut down? No proof? Disappearing investigators?"

"Actually, a little of both."

Mac sat up, becoming more interested in the topic, "But, if they're applying for an expansion permit, won't they be denied, based on the evidence?"

"But that's just it: there IS no evidence. All we have to go on are a bunch of rumors. And it's no coincidence that ABD has some key town officials on their board."

"And why doesn't the town just revoke their license?"

"Their treatment facility covers parts of three counties: it's in one township in the corner of one county where it abuts one township in another county and two more townships in a third county!"

"Yeah. And they play one district against the others and come out on top. So, what makes this project so special?" MacGyver looked askance at Pete, "Hm? I mean, why are you so worked up about this?"

Pete was getting flustered, being put on the spot like this. "There's… I'm not worked up! I'm …"

Mac looked at his plane, then with a slow drawn out "Pe-ete?"

Pete gave him an impatient look, "You know? Sometimes I hate how well you know me!" He stood up and started pacing, "It's… an archeologist who's working on a project in the same area that I'd like you to keep an eye on – a Dr. Johnson."

"An archeologist?" Mac looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Now, why do I get the feeling that there's more to this? I mean, what damage can an archeologist do?"

Pete came to rest on the corner of his desk nearest to MacGyver, heaved a resigned sigh. "That's not it, Mac. It's … she's my niece."

Mac looked up, incredulous, "SHE? Your Niece?!" He soon had a sour expression on his face, "Pete, why not hire a private investigator?"

"Because you'd fit right in! She'll never suspect you! And you can investigate what's going on there at the same time! There's been some trouble and…"

"Pete, I'm still doing the paperwork for the Campbellsport Project …"

Pete shot Mac a hopeful smile, "She's pretty."

Mac looked at him reprovingly, "Pete! (sigh) Look, of course I'll do it, but can it wait a day or two? I've only been back for two days… I haven't even had time to do my laundry yet!"

Pete smiled, knowing that Mac was hooked, but needing to say more, "Look, I know I'm asking a lot, but you can have a month off when you finish this assignment."

"You want this that bad?" Mc sighed, thinking, then nods, "OK. When do I leave? Er, you HAVE made arrangements?"

"What? Me? MacGyver, would I...?"

His intercom chose that moment to interrupt with Nancy's voice, "Mr. Thornton, the airport just called to confirm Mr. MacGyver's flight for 7:30 AM tomorrow, leav…" and the machine let out a loud "SQUAWK!" As Pete rushed to shut it off.

MacGyver waited, watching Pete, knowing what was coming next and that Pete knew he knew but didn't want to admit that he'd tipped his hand. Finally Pete sighed and grudgingly slid some papers from under his desk blotter and thrust them at MacGyver, "Here! Now will you get out of here? I have work to do!"

Mac walked over and took the papers, grinning, "Aw, come on, Pete. We know each other too well to hide things from one another." MacGyver reached out to shake Pete's hand and they embraced.

Pete was suddenly overcome with emotion. "MacGyver, do you know how much it means to me to be able to touch another person? All day long I'm surrounded by faceless voices! I want to touch every sound, to verify that it's real!"

Mac thought for a moment, "Yeah. I think I do, a little anyway. Remember that sensory deprivation thing I did a few years ago?"

"That's right! You went around touching and hugging everyone… for a long time afterward…" At first Pete's expression had livened up as he remembered Mac's actions, but then it turned more grim.

Mac looked at him with sympathetic understanding, "But there's one big difference."

"Yeah. .. Say, don't you have some laundry to do, or something?"

MacGyver started to leave, grinning, then turned back as a thought occurred to him, "Say, Pete? One more thing… She knows, doesn't she? About you?"

Pete suddenly found something on his desk that needed doing, "Uh, no. I haven't gotten around to…"

"You're going to have to tell her."

"I KNOW! I know… Just, not yet… MacGyver? Be careful. … and… Thanks."

"Yeah." And he left the office deep in thought about how he was going to handle this.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

And that's your introduction! R & R


	2. Chapter 2

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 2:

MacGyver stood and looked over the area he would be testing today. It was a beautiful day and he was in a great location with slightly rolling hills off in the distance. As he emerged from the woods and headed for the marsh where he would be taking the first of his samples, he noticed a woman who seemed to be taking samples from the open fields. She was dressed sensibly for the day in shorts and field boots and with her sleeves rolled up. Brown curls peeked out from under the brim of her yellow canvas bucket hat as she added yet another sample to her side pack.

He made his way over to her, "Hello there!"

She looked up from what she was doing, "Hello! Can I help you?"

"Er, I was just wondering… what are those flags for?" he asked, indicating the small flags on wires that she was inserting here and there as she went.

"They're marking out a possible prehistoric village or campsite." She stretched out a tanned arm to him, "Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, University of Wisconsin Archeology Department."

MacGyver took her hand, yielding a surprisingly firm handshake, "MacGyver, Center for Environmental Studies, LaCrosse."

Well, Mr. MacGyver, since it looks like we'll be working together, why don't you call me Elly?... Or are you working for ABD?"

"No, Ma'am, I'm working for a group that's sort of taking an overview. You know, the pros and cons?" Mac could have kicked himself for giving such a meaningless response. What was he thinking?

Elly thought about it, puzzled, "Oh."

Just to change the subject, he asked, "Uh, why do you think there's a site here? Doesn't there have to be a mound or something?"

"Mounds are pretty easy to find," as she handed Mac some small chert flakes she had picked up. "But this is micro-archeology: more like detective work."

Mac studies the flakes, "But these are just chips of broken rock… aren't they?

Elly went into her patient teaching mode, "In a way. They're waste flakes from stone tool manufacture."

"But…" and he looked up at her through his eyebrows, "OK." Then rocked back on his heels with a smirk, "So what am I supposed to ask next?"

Elly blushed at being caught out, "Was I that obvious?"

Mac gave her a stern look that turned into a crooked grin and opened his mouth to speak when Elly interrupted, "I was a little condescending, wasn't I? I'm sorry. I'm not accustomed to dealing with people who can think, out in the field I mean. You're different. You think!"

Mac hardly knew what to say. He'd never been accused of such a thing by a stranger before. "Uh, well… Here…" and he handed the flakes back to her, "And thank you, I think? I mean, I didn't mean…"

Elly smiled shyly, amused at his confusion, "So now I've embarrassed you. I'm sorry. Let's start all over again? Hi! I'm Elly Johnson."

Mac chuckled and shook hands again, "Hi! MacGyver here."

An awkward silence ensued before they both began speaking at once:

Elly was saying, "If you'd like…"

While Mac had started to say, "Well, I've got…"

Elly dropped her eyes with a shy smile. Mac gave her a half grin, "Please, go ahead."

Elly looked at him, trying to see what his motives were, "I was just about to invite you to my trailer for the evening…"

MacGyver's eyebrows went up in surprise before he felt a blush working its way up across his face.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

And that, my friends, is chapter 2! R & R, if you like!


	3. Chapter 3

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 3:

I stood there with my mouth open. _Did she just say what I thought she said? Did she just invite me to her trailer for the evening?_

Elly grinned at my obvious discomfort and confusion, "I mean for a mini seminar that I'm giving on stone tool manufacture. Some of the locals are coming, and I thought since you seemed interested…."

I wondered if Pete knew his niece very well. "Tell me, do you always treat strange men like … this?"

She gave me a shy grin, "No… not always."

_I don't know why, but something about her left me completely unsettled._ "Er,… good… Look, "

Elly interrupted, "I'm in trailer number 17 and the talk is around 7:30 … Do you know where the trailer park is?"

I was finally recovering my equilibrium, "Ah, I'm in one of the trailers too, but I don't know if… I mean, I've got to run some tests on these samples …"

She was trying not to show her disappointment, "Oh! Of course. Well, if you can't make it …." She took a breath and seemed to resign herself before continuing, "Now, if you don't mind? Daylight is a very precious commodity in these latitudes…"

She was sort of cute, especially with those brown curls peeking out from under that hat… "Oh! Yes ma'am. Sorry to have kept you so long. I'll see about tonight."

We split up and I headed for the marsh and she went back out into the field, but I noticed that she was keeping an eye on me. _Well, I guess I noticed 'cause I was keeping an eye on her. Funny how that works, _I thought and grinned to myself.

_O0o0o0o0o0o0o0ooo0oooo_

The town dump was surprisingly busy for it being the middle of the night. There was the usual arrangement of dumpster bins and a shack for the guys that ran the place, but there were also a number of curious drums standing around in clusters and some large trucks going in and out of the gate.

A lone figure, dressed all in black wearing blackface and carrying what looked like a camera covered with some black fabric (Like a sock?) darted here and there among the drums. He took a few samples from some of the drums and one of the holding tanks before disappearing under a tarp draped over some of the drums on one of the trucks. As expected, the truck soon began to move out of the dump and along a dirt road. They hadn't gone far before MacGyver noticed a puddle advancing toward him from one of the drums. He shifted his position as much as he could without exposing himself. Soon they slowed down to pass through a gate and Mac took the opportunity to find a new hiding place.

He chose a cluster of drums similar to those on the truck and had hardly got his bearings before a giant clam shovel picked up the drums and him and swung them over a pit. Mac had grabbed a broken shovel handle and some wire and used it to fashion a bar he could hang onto when the clam released its load. When the scoop went back for more drums, Mac jumped clear, leaving the curious shovel handle and wire inside the scoop. He rolled into another cluster of drums that were sitting near a shack. He did a double-take when he saw a telephone junction box on the outside of the building and peeked inside through one of the cracks in the boards – it's an office! _ Wonder what kind of goodies they're hiding in there?_

He located a ventilation plate and undid the screws using his SAK (Swiss Army Knife) – _handiest little gizmo ever invented! – _and slipped inside. He made a note of the phone number on the old rotary dial, then used his Mini-Mag light to scan and photograph the papers on the desk. When he heard voices approaching he slipped out the same way he came and replaced the screws in the plate. He photographed some of the drums before crawling under a tarp on one of the trucks waiting to return.

Once he was back inside his trailer, he washed off the blackface, developed the film and made prints. The prints clearly showed faces and drum labels indicating toxic chemicals, some of which were partly missing or painted over. He stashed everything in a cubby-hole and went to bed

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o

Elly had had a good class last night and although she'd been disappointed that her new neighbor hadn't made an appearance, she hoped he might make it to the next class. She was up early and decided to bake some muffins to share with him. As she worked she kept an eye on his trailer, but when she'd seen no activity by after 7 AM, she decided to take some over to him. She loaded some oat muffins, fresh churned butter from the farm, black raspberry jam and honey – also from the farm – and a pot of coffee all onto one of her shaking screens and draped a clean towel over it. She then carried it carefully to his trailer and, carefully balancing it, kicked at his door.

Mac had planned on sleeping late today, since he'd had almost no sleep last night. So he was a bit perturbed to have someone banging on his trailer at just after 7 AM! He rolled over and shouted out the window, "NYEAH? What is it? Who's there? Go away!"

Elly hollered back, "I can't open the door!"

Mac Rolled out of bed, literally – he landed on the floor! - Wait! Just a minute! And he pulled on some trousers before opening the door looking pretty disheveled, "Elly! What?" And he stood aside to let her pass.

"Good Morning!" she greets him much too cheerily for this time of day.

"Wait! What's all this?"

Hahaha! Breakfast is served! R & R, if you please

AN: I have patterned Elly after myself in many ways. Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Chapter 4

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 4:

Elly cleared a place at the table and started setting things out, "Go on! Get showered. It's getting late." She turned and gave him a quick once-over, "Car trouble?"

MacGyver stood staring at her like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. "Huh?"

She nodded toward him with a smirk, "The grease smudges on your chin and hand? I figured that's why you got in so late last night?"

Mac was beginning to recover from his shock and checked out the 'grease smudges' in a mirror, "Uh, yeah. I did. Uh…" and he cleared his throat, "Did I… miss something here?"

"No, but you'll miss the mayor's meeting at eight if you don't get a move on … or did you forget?"

Mac looked at his watch, "That's today?!" And he hurried back into his bed/bathroom.

Elly called out to him, "You'd better hurry; your coffee's getting cold!"

Mac shouted back, over the sound of running water, "I don't drink coffee, but you can make some tea if you like. It's in the cupboard above the refrigerator."

Soon Mac emerged with a towel over his head, drying his hair, "You know, this was very nice of you, but it really wasn't … necessary…" He looked around at the empty kitchen. "Elly?.. Elly?" Perplexed he noticed a note on the table and read it out loud, 'Enjoy your breakfast. See you in town. Tea's on the stove. Organic muffins, wild grape jam, honey … all from the farm.' Hmm…" He shrugged, tasted one of the muffins, poured some tea and sat down to breakfast.

O0o0o0o0oo0ooooooooo0o0

The next day Elly was back out doing her surface collecting in roughly the same place she'd been the day before. She consulted her field notes, checked her location, but this time she headed into the woods. MacGyver reached the spot a few minutes later, looking around for her. Not finding any trace of her along the edge of the woods, he shrugged his shoulders, peered into the woods, then continued walking, talking to himself, "Elly, where are you? Pete, you need a baby-sitter…" He'd only taken a few steps when he stopped, listening…

A muffled voice was coming from the woods, "…elp, …elp….omony ease elp…"

He walked toward the sound, calling, "HELLO? HELLO!" Then paused to listen.

Then a little bit clearer than before, he hears, "Help! Help! Can anybody hear me?"

Mac continued in the same general direction, carefully watching his footing and peering overhead for the source of the cries, "HELLO! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Elly's voice was becoming clearer and Mac could tell with a certainty the direction from which it was coming. Up until now, what with the way voices would echo in a forest, it was hard to tell which direction they were originating from. But now Mac was able to approach the sound more directly, "Elly? Is that you?!"

Until now Elly had been half afraid to call out for help, unsure of who might be within hearing of her and what their intentions might be. But as he drew closer she could make out the voice of MacGyver, "OVER HERE! MacGyver! Be careful!"

He approached cautiously, "Over where? I can't see-yah!" as his footing gave way and a gaping hole opened up in front of him. He managed to grab a tree root and pull himself back up as debris rained down on Elly,

"No! Get back! LOOK OUT!" And she ducked to avoid being struck by the stuff.

"Elly? Are you OK? What're ya doing down there? Hold on, I'll get you out."

"I'm having a picnic! What does it look like I'm doing? Be careful, the edges are sandy and collapse easily."

Mac took a rope from his pack and tied it to a tree, tied the other end around his waist, then lay on his stomach to make his way toward the edge. Peering down, he could see Elly at the bottom of a pit roughly eight feet deep and eight feet squared. MacGyver's rope was far too short to reach her, but just then he noticed a length of rope on the far side of the pit. He made his way back to the tree, untied himself and carefully worked his way around to the other side. Taking a long twig, he pulled the rope closer to where he was, but just as he was about to grab the rope, the ground gave way and he crashed into the pit. "Whoa….Oh-h…Ahhh!"

Elly ducked the new avalanche of debris, "No!"

She began clearing some of the debris as MacGyver extricated himself from it and looked around at the pit, "Great! Ugh. What is this, anyway?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, a bear pit, maybe?"

"Bears? Here?"

"I was just guessing…"

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, we've got to get out of it… What's that?"

Elly had been cutting large notches in one of the poles that came down with MacGyver using her SAK (Swiss Army Knife). "Making a crude ladder?"

He nodded in understanding then grinned, "Nice knife!", then made a face to himself, thinking,_ there has to be a better way! _ "Uh, can you climb a rope?"

She gave a short laugh, "Hah! Me? No way!... but I do have a little one here that you could use?" She fished a length of nylon cordage from her pack and handed it to him.

He grinned at her ingenuity, "Yeah. That'll work!" and tied Elly's rope to the one he had retrieved from the edge of the pit, then tied his own SAK to the other end of Elly's line and a short, stout stick – centered - to the other end of the heavier rope. He positioned himself under the branch of a tree before beginning to swing the end of the rope with his knife attached in larger and faster circles. When he let it go, his knife and the end of the rope flew upward … and hit the tree branch before plummeting back into the pit. He yelled, "Look out!" and covered Elly with his arms. It wasn't until the fourth try that the knife sailed over the tree limb and came back into the pit. Mac then untied his knife and tied the rope end in a loop around the other length of rope. After several good tugs, the loop slid upward and secured the whole affair to the tree limb.

Using the rope to pull on, he climbed up the wall of the pit, dislodging quite a bit of dirt. "See? Like that. Think you could do that?" But when he turned to help Elly, the entire wall collapsed in on her.

Mac yelled, "No! Elly!" as he slid back down the rope. He dug franticly and soon Elly emerged, coughing and sputtering.

"Ugh! You know? Maybe you should just leave me be … I think I'd be safer that way!"

Suddenly she froze, staring straight ahead past MacGyver, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. She whispered, "Mister MacGyver?"

He whispered back, "What?"

Still staring straight ahead, she told him, "Pinch me."

He was about to whisper back, then straightened up with a puzzled look on his face, "What!?

Still whispering, Elly pointed to the wall behind him, "Look!"

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ooh! So what's in the pit with them? R & R


	5. Chapter 5

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 5:

Turning hesitantly, MacGyver was unsure whether she was pointing at a pit viper or someone holding a gun and ready to go on the defensive, "Look at the… Why? What..?" He was suddenly struck with awe at what he was looking at. In what remained of the wall of the pit, in a natural upright position, was a mastodon skull partly exposed by the collapse. "What is that thing? Is that a Mastodon? It's HUGE!"

Elly was still staring, her eyes beginning to get teary, "Yeah. It is!" She took a deep breath, "Uh! And there may be more of it in there… LOOK!" She picked some things out of the debris that had just come down and held them out toward him, Oh, look at what they've done here!"

He frowned, questioningly, "What? What WHO have done?"

She carefully packed away the artifacts, "The ones who dug this pit! This is a freshly dug pit … even I know that!"

Playing dumb, not wanting her to suspect any deliberate foul play, he asked her, "What are you talking about?"

"This pit was obviously dug to act as a deterrent to anyone snooping around here. Don't you see? It's just like in the movies! They've got some big secret they don't want anybody to find out about, so whenever investigators get too close, they dig a pit to trap them, then come back in a day or so and either kill them or sell them as slaves to Iran!"

At first Mac was concerned that she might be on to something, but as her hypothesis became more and more fanciful his expression changed from concern to incredulity until he was sitting on his heels, laughing. "What?! Come on… Let's find a way out of here." He gave her a reproving look, "I thought you were a scientist?"

She angrily turned to face him, "I AM!"

Still chuckling, he told her, "Well you don't sound like one!"

"I WHAT? But… look at what they did!" as she gestured toward the wall, "They dug a hole to stop us, but what they've accidentally uncovered is going to stop them flat. This might even become a national monument!" She turned back to glare at MacGyver, "What do you mean, I don't sound like a scientist? Scientists have dreams too, you know! So what's your theory?"

Mac, still grinning, had finally stopped laughing, "My …? That we have to get out of here… Uh, I don't suppose you're going to let me climb back up that wall?"

She gave him a defiant look, eyeing him from the corner of her eyes, "Oh, ho, ho…"

Mac held up his hands in mock defense with a smirk, "Just asking!" and cast around for another way out.

"I know!" she exclaimed, untying the stick from the rope and handing it to MacGyver. "Here, re-tie this as high as you can reach on the rope." While he was busy she gathered or created more short pieces of wood and handed them to him, one at a time, with instructions to space them about a foot apart on the rope.

Mac smiled quietly as she worked… he liked the idea, but didn't want her to know. "Like this?" he asked after tying a few.

"Yeah," she said with a grin, seeing what he had done. He grinned back at her, picking up another stick. "Good job!"

He chuckled, "Thanks."

When they had tied the last piece onto the rope, Elly 'presented' the ladder to him with a bow and said, "You first!"

Mac climbed the rope/ladder easily by placing both feet on each wooden step as he went, then swung it to the side and jumped off. Elly tossed him her pack, then began to struggle up the rope. Eventually she was able to swing it far enough for him to catch the end and hold it steady enough for her to climb down to him.

They grinned at each other before he handed her her pack, "You go straight home and take care of those artifacts."

Elly looked up with concern as well as defiance in her eyes, "And what about you?"

"Umm… I have … some things to do…"

She began to protest, "But…"

Mac sighed, "OK. If I'm not back in, say, two hours, call the sheriff."

Elly turned and headed for her trailer, dejectedly, "Oh. OK"

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o

And so ends chapter 5. R & R if you like….


	6. Chapter 6

Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 6:

A small, rather dusty office was situated near the center of the town dump. Here workers kept track of the weights and volumes of the various recyclables collected, items set aside for re-purposing, gallons of motor oil and other oddities brought in to be disposed of. It was also a hub for gossip and tall stories, as well as some nefarious dealings. The office was not much more than a shack built of mostly scrap lumber and siding, but it had a good roof on it and was heated in the cold months for the men who tended the dump, or rather, the "recycling center".

On this particular evening there were two men inside. One was heavy-set and wearing a visor cap proclaiming "BIG–WHEELS FEVER", a denim jacket over a dress shirt, black jeans cinched with a painted belt – what little you could see of it. The belt had a too large buckle which, combined with his over-hanging belly, were likely the primary reasons he leaned back so far in the chair. Gaudy, fake western boots completed his attire.

The other man was small, small-boned and immaculately groomed. His graying hair was cut short in a soft brush that went well with his light gray suit, soft pink pin-striped shirt with white cuffs and collar and paisley print tie with a pocket square to match. With his gray wingtip shoes he looked terribly out of place. He leaned back in his chair, toying with a pencil. "You're sure, Bob? I'd hate to initiate any action and then find out it was an unnecessary risk."

"I'm sure, Mr. Schofield. I checked it out myself. The main tank is half full and the ponds are all at their limit. One good rain and the whole thing's gonna overflow."

Schofield studied his pencil, thinking. Releasing these toxic chemicals untreated could only be done at night and on nights when there were no public activities scheduled. Tonight would be such a night. "OK then, why don't you come back around 1:30 and we'll see what we can do? Just keep it to yourself and be sure you're not followed, OK?"

"One-thirty: You got it." As he got up to leave there was a knock at the door. They exchanged surprised looks before Schofield told him, "Get rid of him, whoever it is."

Bob looked through the peep-hole in the door, "It's one o' them scientists." Schofield showed just a bit of alarm, "I wonder what he wants?" His demeanor changed to forced affability and he called out, "Yes? Come in! Come in!"

Mac entered the office and immediately recognized Bob and Schofield from his files. "Good evening! I saw your lights on and thought I'd stop in."

Schofield appeared to be slightly on edge, but put on a good show, "Ah! Mr. MacGyver! Please, have a seat!"

Mac's expression changed to one of "_Give me a break._" "Thanks, but I'll stand."

Schofield was still trying to maintain his air of friendliness, "And how can we help you today? I trust your survey is going well?"

"Well, you see, that's just it. We have a little problem: there seem to be some old abandoned pits out there that we weren't told about. Someone fell into one today and could have been seriously injured… "

Schofield has been pointedly scrutinizing Mac's dirt-smudged clothes. Mac noticed and added, "… And I helped her get out. The point is, we should have been warned that…"

Schofield gets a dark, determined look and tells Mac, "Mr. MacGyver," And Mac wondered if this guy knew how much being called that grated on him? "I am not responsible for hazards you might find in the woods! You all signed a disclaimer accepting responsibility for accidental injuries. Surely you don't expect us to go…"

"How did you know it was in the woods?" Schofield and Bob exchanged looks like the kid caught with their hand in the candy jar. "I don't expect you to enumerate every little hazard that we might find, but I DO expect to be informed of any UN-natural hazards…"

Schofield angrily interrupted, "Mr. MacGyver, I have only been here for six months and am a very busy person. I just don't have time to… Say. Bob? Do you know anything about this?"

Mac almost felt sorry for Bob, having this thrown into his lap without any warning. Bob shrugged, confused, "Mr. Schofield, I don't know nothin' about no pits. Maybe Ben Davis out on River Road might know somethin'. He's the old owner."

Mac was being very patient, knowing he was being given a run-around. "OK, where can I find this Ben Davis?"

"Bob? What's his son-in-law's name?" He turned to Mac to explain, "Ben doesn't answer his door to strangers," then looked at his watch, "Oh dear. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a meeting … Nice to meet you, again, Mr. MacGyver. I'm sure Bob can answer any more questions you might have." And with that he left the office.

Mac looked at Bob, leaning back on his chair with a smug grin on his face, "Uh, …That's OK. I'll find him."

"Suit yourself!"

And Mac left the office.

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And so we meet Schofield and "Bob"! Nice guys, eh? LOL. R & R, if you like.


	7. Chapter 7

Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 7:

MacGyver's POV

I needed to contact Pete without tipping off the cartel, and that meant I needed to use a public phone. Fortunately, the village of Sylvania was nearby and they still had one of those old-fashioned things out on the street in their shopping district. Since I also needed to stock up on some goodies from the market, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

After getting what I needed from the general store, I put the bag in the jeep and walked the few blocks to the sheriff's office. Now, I had checked the office door before I started my shopping and there was a sign on the door saying he'd be back by three o'clock. My watch was reading 4:05 when I got here. Now it was reading 5:30 and the sign was still there and the door was still locked. He must be keeping banker's hours. _Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow_.

From the sheriff's office I headed for the only phone booth in town. I felt like I was stepping into a time capsule or the Tardis! But it worked just like any other public phone.

When the receptionist answered I asked for Pete's office and was connected right away. _He must've been waiting for me! _"Yeah, Pete! … No, no problem. Say, could you …? Pete? … Yes, she is. Pete…? Pete! Uh, I need you to check on some information for me. I need a location for this phone number: 555-7693. … Right. And a trace on a license number, Illinois plates 36-SCF-36. Right. I'll call back around 7… No, I won't … Pete, will you stop worrying? Everything's under control. Good-bye, Pete… I'm hanging up now … yes, Bye!" _Sheesh! You'd think she was his daughter out on her first date!_

_I mean, she is cute, I suppose. And she did figure out how to get out of that pit, although she couldn't do it on her own. Guess I can't blame her for being short. But those curls peeking out from under that yellow hat are sort of … well,… cute._

I pulled into our parking lot and headed for Elly's trailer with the groceries when I noticed something odd about my place. I back-tracked a few paces and set down the bag before crossing the driveway for a closer look. My door was open! Now, I know I can be a little absent-minded sometimes, but I have never left my door open! I carefully approached the door, then felt around it for any sort of a tripwire – _you can never be too careful about these things_. I looked through one of the windows and could see that my place had been gone through - more like ransacked – although it looked empty now. Carefully, I went inside and the first place I checked was my little cubby-hole – and of course, it was empty. _Ugh! All that work!_ I leaned back against the wall, still crouching, thinking. And now they knew that I was on to them! _Elly! She'd been with me out at that pit!_ _Better warn her!_

I was careful to leave everything as I found it, including the door as I exited, when Elly stepped out from behind it.

"MacGyver? Is that you?"

I nearly hit her, thinking she was one of the ones who'd been inside my place! "Elly!" I whispered, "What are you doing here?!"

Elly looked surprised that I was so tense, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. What's going on over here? I saw them go in and…"

_Oh, No! She shouldn't be here. Pete's gonna kill me! _"Please, keep your voice down", I whispered urgently. "You SAW them? Did they see you?"

Elly looked at me, puzzled, "No-o, I don't think so, Why?"

Just then I heard a loud 'THUNK' from the side of the trailer between us. "Well they have now!" I told her, "GET DOWN!" I said, ducking and pulling her down with me. I pulled her along toward the woods as several more 'clinks' and 'thunks' came from just over our heads.

Elly chose this time to rebel against me pulling her, saying "What? What are you…?"

I pulled her harder, telling her, "Not now! Stay down and do as I say!" Thankfully she complied and we made it into the woods. With the fall of darkness, the air was growing chilly and I could see her rubbing her arms, so I gave her my jacket. "Here... Put this on. I'll be back as soon as I can." _Couldn't have her getting sick!_

She grabbed my arm, "Wait! Where are you going?"

I had no time to explain, so I told her, "I'll be back, don't worry. If anyone comes by, hide!" and I melted into the forest.

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The plot thickens!


	8. Chapter 8

Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 8:

(MacGyver's POV)

I sure hoped Elly would stay put while I was gone. She had such a way of diving in to trouble before thinking it through. Just like me, I guess.

When I got back to our trailer park there was a fancy red truck parked out on front of my trailer, _ Man, I would never own such a showy gas-guzzler! _To avoid it I skirted around that area and went to Elly's trailer. Nobody was there and apparently hadn't been … yet. I was just about to dump out the contents of her pack onto her worktable when I heard voices just outside the window. _Nuts! _I ducked under her work table, but then had to grope around on its surface with my hand, feeling around blindly for the items I wanted before stuffing them into her pack. Suddenly the voices outside the window grew loud enough for me to clearly hear what they were saying and I recognized Bob's twangy voice, "OK. I'll be back as soon as I'm done with Schofield. He said 1:30, that's fifteen minutes. He's gonna love what we found in that MacGyver's trailer! Boy! You ever hear of Phoenix Foundation?"

I didn't recognize the other voice, but then_, who could say how many people were involved in this?_ He was saying, "Ain't that those guys that're always getting' people riled up about wild animals and the environment and stuff?"

"Bob's unmistakable voice said, "Yeah. Agitators"

When the other guy asked Bob about his jacket, I was just getting ready to head out the back escape hatch when I remembered Elly's jacket. I dropped hers and my packs out her back bedroom window before going back to grab her jacket and throw myself out the same window. After I was sure no-one was the wiser, I made a bee-line for that fancy red truck. Thing is, no matter how fancy those things are, they all operate the same way, so after I retrieved all my stuff back from them - _what in tarnation were they doing with my suspenders?!_ – I took their ticket from the ignition: a fine set of keys.

_When we were kids, we used to use suspenders for sling-shots, using black walnuts for ammunition. I got pretty good at it too._ Well, since I had no black walnuts with me, I figured some fancy keys would do just as well. After I pocketed the ignition key_ – you gotta always remember not to use that one! –_ I used the suspenders just like a sling-shot to shoot two of the keys so they'd drop on top of Elly's trailer. Next I shot the rest of the ring so it would sort of glance off the side of her trailer and bury itself somewhere off in the woods_. That oughta keep them busy for awhile!_ Just as I could have predicted, the man came out of Elly's trailer to investigate, calling Bob over to help.

I took advantage of that fine distraction to get to my jeep. I threw my pack on the seat and then pushed it down the road a bit before getting in and starting it. _Haha! Now that was fun! _

I drove the car to near where I'd left Elly_ (and I really hoped she was still there!)_ and searched for her in the woods_. I'll say this for her, that girl can hide!_ She finally came out after I'd softly called her name._ I was so glad to get my jacket on! It was getting mighty chilly out there!_

But she was a little piqued at being dragged out into the woods_, "_Will you please tell me what's going on here? What's the big idea, dragging me out here?"

I started to tell her, "I'm not sure…" but she jumped all over me,

"You're not sure!? You're…"

But I was able to calm her down, though I guess I'd be a little upset if I were on the other end of this myself, "If you'd let me finish? I'm not sure why, but we were being shot at back there and now they're going through your trailer…"

"What?" she asked. "But why? Who?"

I began leading her back to my jeep, "Come on; my jeep is about half a mile this way."

But darned if that gal didn't keep tripping and falling down! She was the clumsiest person I'd ever met! And she kept asking questions, "What about all my research? And the artifacts?"

I patiently waited for her to catch up, telling her, "It's all in the jeep… Can't you go any faster?" I mean, I was getting exasperated, trying to out-run the bad guys while having to wait for her again and again…

"Ugh! No. I can't" she told me, flat out.

So I took her by the hand to help her along, but it didn't seem to help any. It seemed as if the harder we tried, the more often she'd fall and we were both getting frustrated. I finally lost my temper with her and asked her, "Who's side are you on here, anyway?"

She was shaking and out of breath and looked at me like a lost puppy, "Huh?"

But I wasn't falling for her act, "I mean, is this some kind of a set-up? Is someone following us and you're deliberately slowing us down so they can catch up?"

She choked out a reply, "What on earth are you talking about? You're the one who dragged me out here! This wasn't my idea! And I'm doing the best I can! I just… can't go any faster."

But like I said, I'd had it with her, "Right! I should just leave you here for your friends; they can't be far behind!"

Then she got really mad, "AAGH! If that's what you think, then go! I'd rather fend for myself than be called a liar! Ugh! GO ON! Ugh! How do I always get mixed up with such – PEOPLE! Ugh!" and she sat down, crying.

If there's one thing I can't take, it's someone crying. Especially a woman. Especially a pretty one. "Aww… come on. (sigh) If it weren't for…" I almost said 'if it weren't for Pete', but she can't know about that.

Of course, she picked up on what I"d almost said, "You're still here? If it weren't for what?"

Now I felt bad. We needed to get out of here – together, so I reached for her hand again, "Nothing. Come on…"

But she was persistent, if nothing else; "If it weren't for what, MacGyver?"

I told her, "Nothing. Now come on, but you have to try to go faster!"

"But I can't!" And she started crying again. _Women!_ "I just can't!... You'd better go on ahead. If you have all that stuff in your car, you can take it to the sheriff, then come back for me."

Now, I'll tell ya, I was tempted to take her up on it… but then decided it might be a bad idea to leave her out her all alone and all, so I decided to try another tactic. I picked her up and started to put her over my shoulder. Boy! Did she ever yell at that! I think my ears are still ringing!

"No! NO! OK! I'll tell you! Put me down!"

I let her go, but she told me, "On one condition!" _I KNEW it! There always has to be a condition! _

I rolled my head at her, "What?" I asked.

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Mac's really got his hands full, doesn't he? Hahaha! R & R, if you like!


	9. Chapter 9

Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 9:

(Mac's POV)

I was stunned. Here she was, slowing me down, and SHE had a condition for her telling me why…? I waited… then she dropped the bomb:

"You can't tell anybody, I MEAN it! Not even Uncle Peter."

I have to admit, that caught me off-guard. I had no idea what to say, so I played dumb. _(easy enough for me!)_ "Uncle…?" .. But that was as far as my brain would make my mouth to move, so I fessed up, "You know?"

She half rolled her eyes at me, "It wasn't hard to figure out … an environmental troubleshooter who falls into trouble at the drop of a hat,"

(C_ome on! I'm not that bad… am I?)_

"… but is perfectly capable of taking care of himself in any situation."

(_Now, that's more like it!)_

"I've heard stories about you since …."

"Ah-I get the idea," I told her, not wanting to hear Pete's fanciful versions of some of our escapades.

"I'm honored and all," she continued. "But you can't tell Uncle Peter what I'm about to tell you."

Now, Pete and I go way back and have very few – if any – secrets from each other, at least none that either of us can remember, well, maybe except that one time… _nah, Never mind… not important. _Elly was waiting, so I told her, "I'll promise not to tell anyone else, but why don't you let me decide what to tell Pete?"

She gave me a long look, then seemed to come to a decision and sighed, "I guess that'll have to do. Um… when I was a kid, I had a case of polio, but I recovered from it – as you can see. Or so I thought. Now I'm having problems related to … that. The doctors have said that when you recover from polio, what nerves have not been destroyed by the disease take over for those that were…"

I was beginning to catch her drift, " So they're sort of doing double-duty?"

_I really did like the way she smiled! _"Right! I'm impressed! So after twenty-five or thirty years of overwork, they …"

And I continued her thought not realizing that I was talking, "begin to wear out, leaving the muscle weakened by atrophy of the muscle fibers…"

She brought me up short, interrupting my interruption, "Hey! Whose story is this anyway?"

"Oh! Sorry. Uh, go ahead…" (_Boy did I feel dumb now!)_

"Well, when I try to walk too fast for too long," she told me, "my muscles rebel and won't work. Besides that, if I can't see where my foot falls and it hits something not flat, I fall down."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. What was she doing out here? "And you're doing field work?"

She gave me a look that was a cross between disgust and 'get real'. "I'm FINE!, if I'm allowed to work at my own rate – pace myself, sleep when I need it … WHICH is what I was trying to do!"

(_I guess I messed up her plans!)_

"… but if I push myself, things go wrong, fall apart, or just quit working."

Having worked as a trainer now and then for our field operatives, I'd heard this sort of thing before – sort of, so I had to ask, "Don't take this wrong, but is it possible you're just out of shape?"

To my great surprise – and relief! – she didn't get mad! _Guess she's maybe heard this before?_

"Actually, that's what I used to think, but, the more 'in shape' I got, the more things hurt and started to go wrong. So I've learned to strike a happy medium."

Feeling very much put in my place, I finished for her, "Until I came along and screwed everything up. I guess I owe you an apology. I've been pretty rough on you … I'm sorry."

There was that smile again! "Apology accepted. Now, help me up." And she extended her hand to me. She started walking, but I couldn't seem to move, watching her. She turned around and looked at my face, "What? Sympathy? Forget it!"

She had walked past me before I could put words to what I was feeling. "No… I was just thinking how much courage and determination it must take to do what you're doing. If it were me… I don't know…"

"If it were you you'd be doing the same thing I am. This is my passion. It … for me, it creates its own energy. You have a passion too, I can feel it." Then she went into boss mode with her hands on her hips, "But we're wasting time!"

"Yeah" was all I could say as we headed off into the woods again – at a slower pace. "You know, you and your uncle have a lot in common," I told her. (_Ack! Why did I say that? Thinking out loud is never a good policy!)_

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear…?"

"Uh… nothing." (_Whew! Bit that one! I sure didn't want to have to explain Pete's problems to her)_ Then I could hear the sound of that darned SUV. _Guess they found another way to start the beast. _I stopped her and told her, "Wait here. I'll see if it's clear."

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Well, one hurdle out of the way! Doncha just love them together? My agent told me that she was 'the perfect foil' for him! LOL. R & R if you like!


	10. Chapter 10

Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 10:

(Mac's POV)

As I got close to the road I could see Bob and the sheriff going through my jeep! Bob was holding up my backpack and telling the sheriff, " Here it is. Here's the stuff he took from my truck. The notebooks and … and this stuff he musta stole from her place, arrowheads and stuff… Hey! This one's neat!" and he pocketed it.

The sheriff musta had a twinge of guilt at seeing that and told him, "OK. That'll do. You drive the jeep to the dump. We'll take care of it tomorrow. Just be sure it's well hidden."

Now I thought that was real neighborly to make sure everything was in place in my jeep! I gathered some gravel from the side of the road and found a rock with a nice heft to it and worked my way a little closer to them. Now, I used to be pretty good at tossing rocks, so I launched one at the sheriff… Missed! _Must be getting rusty!_ But the second one was dead on and hit the sheriff in the side of the neck. Just to keep him interested I threw the larger rock across the road and into the brush.

The sheriff grabbed the side of his neck and yelled to no-one in particular, "Hey! What gives?" and looked around for whoever threw whatever it was that hit him. When he heard the noise in the bushes across the road, he thought he had his rabbit and called Bob over to help him search for the culprit.

I took the opportunity to give the sheriff a hand getting going by putting his car in neutral, releasing the brake and giving it a push. Nothing! He must have it chocked. Sure enough, there was a chunk of rock right in front of the back wheel. I kicked it out, not realizing that I'd already released the brake – and that we were on the side of a hill. I just managed to get clear before that sheriff's squad would have rolled over my leg. Now, I don't mind a good massage now and again, but that would have been just a bit too much for me! I ducked back into the woods and watched that car take off. Oh No! It was going too fast! I cringed when it hit the fence at the bridge and crashed through it into the river_. (Terribly sorry about that, Sheriff. Wonder how much those things cost?)_ But it sure was entertaining to watch the two of them chasing that empty car down the road with their guns drawn, shouting at it to "Halt"!

While they were trying to decide what to do about their car, I got all I needed out of the jeep, including my camera and a couple of canteens of water. As an afterthought, I undid the hood and took out the distributor cap. Now, they might have my keys, but, like I said, these machines all run just about the same way, and they all need keys and distributor caps. But a shot ricocheting off the hood of my car reminded me that I was taking too much time, so I ducked, grabbed the stuff I'd piled next to the car and made it into the woods before they got up to my jeep. I stuffed both packs into one and got everything strapped on or hooked to my belt and threw a line up a good tall tree. Unfortunately I only had time to climb part way up before they got to the same place. I sure hoped they didn't look up! I felt like a piñata waiting for the kids to start swinging their bats. They turned to look somewhere else when I lost my grip on the slippery distributor cap. I reached for it, but as luck would have it – bad luck, that is – only managed to bat it away. Straight at the sheriff! Now, sometimes fate just seems to intervene, if you know what I mean. Seems just at the same time, Bob let a branch go that he was holding back and it hit the sheriff right at the same time as that distributor cap.

The sheriff yelled at Bob, "Hey! Watch it!"

Bob looked over at him with a dumb, puzzled expression (_Not really a stretch for him, if I say so myself.)_"Huh? Oh sorry, Sheriff. We're getting nowhere in here!"

_It was a relief to hear the sheriff agree with him because my hands were really starting to cramp from hanging onto that rope, and I tell ya, I was none too happy to be dangling just over their heads!_

As the left my area, I could hear the sheriff telling him, "Yeah, come on. We'll take the jeep back to your car at the dump. We'll hide the jeep and you can drop me at the judge's so I can get some warrants."

I guess Bob wasn't quite as dumb as he looked because he told the sheriff, "Uh, I don't know about that. I think he was messing around under the hood?"

But that sheriff didn't miss a beat, "Fine. Then you can walk back to the dump for your car and I'll stay here to guard the squad car."

Well, I tell ya, Bob was none too pleased with that idea, but what could he do? So off he went, the sheriff went down to the bridge to contemplate his squad car, and I got down from my hanging perch. But I guess I wasn't as lucky as I'd thought. While trying to get the circulation back in my hands and arms, a sharp twinge of pain in my arm showed me where I'd been shot. Nothing serious – it had gone all the way through. It just hurt. I packed everything together, including that slippery distributor cap, and headed back toward Elly.

_Boy! Was she glad to see me! Felt kinda good, to be appreciated like that!_

"MacGyver! Over here… What's all this? What happened? I heard shots…" and she went on with her questions as she looked through all the stuff I'd brought.

"Change of plans," I told her. "We've got to get this stuff to Judge Morrisson's before the sheriff gets there." I must've grabbed my arm because once she saw the blood on my shirt she started digging earnestly through her pack. "And we can't take the roads to get there because… What are you doing?"

She slit my sleeve so it was hanging in two long strips and had dug a tube of something out of her pack. "Hold on", she told me and just like that she started bandaging up my arm. But whatever she was putting on my arm felt like a red hot poker! "OW!" I couldn't help but holler and grabbed my arm, bending over, "AGH! What is that stuff?"

Elly expertly wrapped the two dangling strips - that had once been a perfectly good sleeve – around my arm rather tightly and tied them together. "Aloe vera. That should hold you until we can get you to a doctor. So who shot you? The sheriff?"

Boy that stuff smarted! "Agh, I don't know… didn't see. Ugh!"

"But he's involved, isn't he?" Without waiting for an answer she handed me some papers, "Here."

I let go of my throbbing arm (_Hate to say it, but it felt better before she put that stuff on it!) _to take the papers, "What's this?"

"Maps. You said you needed to find a back way to the judge's place?"

I looked around: not a streetlamp in sight! _How did she thing I was going to read them?_

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You know? It's hard to tell whether they're working together or at cross purposes sometimes! LOL. R & R, if you like!


	11. Chapter 11

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 11:

(Mac's POV)

Sometimes people will just knock you for a loop. I mean, Elly was usually a very intelligent … person. I'll admit it! But sometimes I had to question her sense of priorities. Like right now. We were out in the woods, at night, on foot… and she handed me some maps! Now what was I supposed to do with them? What would you have done? Next thing I knew she was tapping my arm. OK. Now I'M the one feeling stupid. She was handing me a Mini-Mag – a little flashlight with an adjustable beam. "Here!" she said.

"Thanks" I answered her, impressed once again.

Since these were her own maps, I asked her, "Ah-I don't suppose one of these maps has footpaths and trails marked on it?"

She riffled through the maps before handing me one, "This one has game trails marked on it. It isn't finished yet but it might help?"

_She was somethin' else!_ All I could say was, "Yeah." I tore my eyes away from her to look at the map and immediately saw a pattern. "Here! We can make our way to this dry creek bed and follow it toward the river."

Knowing what I did about Elly, I decided it might be better for both of us if I could lighten her load a bit, so I found a way to pack most of what we would need into my pockets. They were big enough and I wouldn't mind the extra weight. I left a few of her things in her pack before strapping it onto her back. She gave me a funny look, testing it's heft, but I just shrugged my shoulders and she was satisfied with that._ Funny how we were starting to communicate non-verbally. I kinda liked that. _I slung my pack up, locked wrists with her, and we headed out.

Once we hit the dry creek bed things went pretty smooth and we were making good time when I heard something that made my skin crawl. I stopped, listening, and Elly gave me a questioning look, "What?"

"Sh-h", I told her. "What is that?" It sounded like water gurgling.

"It sounds like the river," she offered.

This just didn't feel right. We hadn't come far enough yet. Suddenly I caught a whiff of something that smelled like burning rubber and turned to her with alarm, "Out of here! NOW!"

"What? Out where? Why? What's wrong?"

I started to climb up the side of the gully we were in, but when I turned to check on Elly she was getting nowhere, "I can't, MacGyver!"

I went back for her. It was obvious she wasn't gonna make it on her own, so I dropped my pack, grabbed onto a low branch and reached down for her. We were able to lock arms and I half cajoled, half pulled her out of the ravine. My arm was hurting like blazes but I daren't let her know or she'd probably put some more of that stuff on it!

I took a swig from the canteen and handed it to Elly. She slowly took a drink, but then couldn't get the cap back on. I took the canteen back and secured it to my belt while watching her. "Elly? You're trembling. What is it?"

"I… don't … know…. Gotta keep moving…."

Well, I had to get a sample of whatever that was they were dumping, so I wet a handkerchief and tied it around my face, then took out a sample bottle, some tongs, some rope and a pair of gloves. "I'll be right back," I told her and headed up the bank a ways.

Sure enough, there it was! Junk pouring out of a culvert – oily stuff, frothing, smelling like rotten eggs – some kind of sulphur compound was my guess. I wrapped the rope around a handy dandy tree and let myself down to within reach of the stuff. Using the tongs around the bottle I was able to snag a good sample of the stuff and was on my way back up when I lost my footing and then my grip on the tongs. I reached out with my gloved hand and caught the bottle and finished my climb back out.

Boy! That was some stuff they were dumping! I got the cap on the bottle and tightened it securely before I noticed that some of that stuff had eaten its way right through the glove and was making a fine meal of my hand! I wrapped my mask around the bottle to keep it from burning anything else. Since my mask was wet, I wrapped my burning hand around it, hoping that would stop some of the acid's action.

By the time I got back to Elly my eyes were burning and I was gasping for breath, "Water, Elly! The canteen!" _Smart gal!_ She handed me the open canteen and I poured some of the water on my hand.

"MacGyver! What happened?" I couldn't speak. Poured some of the water on my face, rinsed out my mouth and throat and then swallowed some. Meantime Elly had dug out the Aloe vera and was globbing it onto my burning hand. I expected it to burn but it felt nice and cooling! "Turn around," she ordered me.

"What?"

Elly was undoing her shirt, "I said turn around!"

_Never question a lady when she's unbuttoning something!_ "Yes, Ma'am!"

About a minute later she said she was done and I turned to see her fastening the front of her jacket, holding her shirt. She then cut the sleeves off and rolled them together and gently nestled them into my palm and closed my fingers around it. Then she used some of the rest of the shirt to wrap the whole affair with. "We've got to get you to a hospital!"

"No time," I managed to croak out. "There's a house just ahead near the river. We can call from there." I took Elly's trembling hand, "Still trembling?"

"Yeah. Come on."

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See? Now, whatever happened to 'simple'? R & R


	12. Chapter 12

Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 12:

(Mac's POV)

We were near exhaustion by the time we reached that little cabin in the woods. _ Under any other circumstances that might have sounded kind of romantic, but not tonight. _I was all wrapped up, literally, in pieces of Elly's shirt and my own – some were wrapped around my left hand and some around my right arm. And Elly was just way beyond her limits. I hollered as much as I could, "Hello in the house! HELLO!" before I started coughing again. _It felt like I was coughing my entire throat out!_ Since I couldn't yell, I did the next logical thing: I started kicking on the door.

The door suddenly swung open and a man, obviously just out of bed, peered out at us, "What's all the …?" He gave us a quick once-over before his attitude changed, "Oh dear! Oh, oh, oh! Come in, come in! How can I help you?"

I stepped aside to let Elly enter, "Do you have a phone we could use? And some water?"

"No phone," he answered. _Of course not. That would have been too easy_."Water's in the bucket over there," he said, indicating a large bucket on a stand next to a drysink. "Miss?" he asked with some concern. I turned to see what he was looking at, only to find Elly still standing on the bottom step of the porch with an odd look on her face, sort of bent over a little. She looked like she was having trouble breathing.

I reached out for her, "Elly!" but she batted my hand away,

"No! Don't … touch…unh!" _I've taken care of injured animals that have no way of telling me how they're hurt or where, but it's usually pretty straight-forward to figure out. Elly could only tell me what NOT to do. I don't believe I have ever felt so helpless before. Elly took a painful step, trying hard not to cry. I just wanted to hold her and stop her pain, but she had other ideas…_

"I'm sor…ry …Mac…HNH" Each step was painful, but she slowly managed to get into the house. The cabin owner brought an easy chair close to the door and Elly gingerly lowered herself into it. He gave me a questioning look as if to ask what was going on, but I could only shake my head and shrug.

I finally asked her, quietly, "Elly? What happened?"

"Muscle spasm … my side..NH back…." And then she did it again, she started crying,"I'm so sor…ry!... Can't…go…on!"

Then this generous man offered, "You're welcome to stay right here just as long as you need to," and he held out his hand, "Ben Davis." Yes! The same Ben Davis I'd been told to speak with, _seemed a whole nother world away from what we were dealing with now! _

I took his hand, "MacGyver. And this is Dr. Johnson."

"Elly" she corrected.

He reached for the kerosene lantern, "Here, let's get a little more light …"

I was filling the canteens when I realized what he was about to do. "Uh, no, if you don't mind?"

He looked from one of us to the other, "Uh-huh. You folks hiding from somebody? Like the sheriff, maybe?"

"Well, it's sort of hard to explain," I started.

"No need," he said. "Any enemy of the sheriff is a friend of mine!"

I couldn't believe my ears and grinned at him.

"Now, how can I help?"

I'd been thinking about how to go about this on the way here, since it didn't look like the sort of place that'd have a phone, "Could you take care of Elly until I get back? I have some business to finish…" and I started coughing again. _Would this never stop_?

"How far you goin'? You don't sound like you'll get very far. Maybe you should stay here and I'll run your errand for you?"

I really didn't want to get him tangled up with these guys. "No … I have to get to the Judge's …"

"That's quite a ways … you'd better take my truck."

_ Truck?_

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Looks like Mac is on his own now… R & R, if you like!

Say! I just want to say Thanks to everyone who's been sending those wonderful reviews! I'm sort of flabbergasted by it all. I mean, these stories have been sitting in a closet for more than 25 years now! I really appreciate the support!


	13. Chapter 13

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 13:

(Mac's POV)

_This guy had a truck? Where'd he keep it? And how did he get it in here? There was no actual driveway… no place wide enough for a driveway for anything but a bike! I had to ask, _"You have a truck? Out here?"

"Sure do!" he answered. "It's an old one, but it runs… and it's narrow enough to get between the trees along the trail to the road." _Clever guy!_

I turned to Elly… I felt so bad for her, being in so much pain and all. I knelt down next to her and said, "Elly, I'm sorry I made you do all this…"

She interrupted me, saying "Go! Hur…ry! I'll be … OK!"

Just then Ben produced some old clothes, "You can't go lookin' like that! Here, put these on." And he handed me a Jacket, an old slouch hat and a scarf. Then he got some soot from the stove and smeared it on my face, then stood back to admire his work. "There! That's better!"

I turned to Elly, "What do you think?"

Her eyes widened and she smiled, trying not to laugh. _Guess I must've looked pretty silly! _"You look… ter…ri…ble!" Weakly, she reached over and took my hand, "MacGyver … it's not …. Your fault… I just forgot … in all… the excit…ment. So you… be care…ful? And thank…you!"

I didn't know what to say. I nodded to her. I wanted to tell her to take care of herself, I wanted to tell her how sorry I was … but that darned cat got hold of my tongue and I couldn't talk, so I turned and left. I found the old red pickup out behind the house. She was a beaut! _Why did I always have to be so gung-ho? Why couldn't I see that she wasn't as strong as I was?_ _Why couldn't I have slowed down more? Maybe found a place for her to stay? _ I leaned against the truck and pounded on it with my good hand, wiping my eyes on Ben's jacket sleeve.

A hand on my shoulder brought me to fighting mode and I spun around ready to face this unknown threat. Ben put up his hands in defense, "Whoa there! I thought you might be having engine trouble? Maybe you should let me drive? I'm not sure you're able…"

I composed myself and wiped at my eyes again, "No. No, you stay here with Elly. I'll be…" and I just lost it again. "Argh! After all I've put her through tonight… she THANKED me! She…" and I started coughing again, doubling over…

"I know it's none of my business, but from what I can gather, you've saved her life. And if what you're carrying in that pack will put an end to the carryings-on of the sheriff and Schofield, well, you'd better hurry." And he patted my shoulder. His words gave me more strength to go on and finish this job than he knew. I wiped my eyes yet again, then looked at him.

"Thank you, sir." And I got into the truck and got it started.

Driving through the trees was a little tricky and took all of my concentration, _ sorta like skiing a slalom! _Once I was out on the highway I started thinking again… what if they passed me? Would they recognize me? _ probably not in this get-up!_ And just like that they passed me going the other direction! But I needed to get to the judge's house before they did! I kept one eye on the road and one eye on the rear view mirror, and then I saw the white colonial with the circle driveway. I pulled up in front of the house, but the darned horn didn't work. I banged on the door, tapped on the window with a key. (Sigh) Time was running out. I picked up some rocks from the driveway – little ones._ Sure didn't want to breaking any windows._ Soon an upstairs window opened while I was watching for the sheriff and Bob.

"Hey! What the devil is going on?" Then he noticed the truck and the get-up, "Ben?! That you?"

I pulled off my hat and took a step back, "No, Sir, your honor… It's MacGyver," I croaked out.

The judge was being mighty nice for getting woke up in the middle of the night, I tell ya! " MacGyver? From the Phoenix Foundation?"

"Yes, sir. I need to talk with you."

He started to shut the window, "I'm sure it can wait until…"

"Your Honor! Please! It's important! It's a matter of life and death!"

And right on cue their big truck pulls up and they wrestle me to the ground and handcuff me. "Evening, Your Honor! We been chasing this guy half the night!"

I tried one more time while they were dragging me to their truck, "Your Honor! Wait! Don't listen to him! In my pack here … evidence of chemical dumping, buried drums, photos, samples…" and I ended up coughing my lungs out.

The sheriff and Bob were about to toss me into the back of the truck when the judge told them, "Now hold on just a minute! Mark? What is this all about? Wait a minute, I'll be right down."

The sheriff turned to Bob, "The samples! Get the samples!"

"The what?"

(_I told you he wasn't too bright!)_

"In the pack, you idiot! Hurry!"

I lunged toward the pack to keep Bob away. "No!" I manage to get of one well-placed kick before the sheriff intervened with his own boot to my ribs, then pinned me down and was about to use his night stick when the judge opened the front door, "That's enough, Mark!"

I hardly recognized what was left of my own voice, "Ugh! Your honor! Please! The sample in my pack … chemical release in dry creek bed … water soluble, easy to get rid of evidence. Please…"

The sheriff jerked me up by my sore right arm and told the judge, "Sorry your honor. I'll take him in and you can talk to him in the morning." And dragged me, coughing, to the truck.

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Is he gonna make it? Poor Mac! R & R, if you like!


	14. Chapter 14

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 14:

(Mac's POV)

Now, this sheriff – so-called – wasn't much of a heavyweight, but the way I was feeling he might have been for all I could tell. He was dragging me around like a half dead fish, and I was getting just a little tired of being treated that way. But just as I was about tell him so, the judge spoke up, "Now, let's not be so hasty. Why don't you all just come inside and we'll try to get to the bottom of this? Bob, would you bring that pack with you?"

I turned in time to see Bob carelessly pick up the pack in its middle, allowing the sample bottle to fall out. I'm not saying he did it deliberately, but knowing how these guys worked I wouldn't have been a bit surprised. The bottle smashed on the sidewalk, some of the chemical effervescing with the asphalt sidewalk while the rest of it withered the grass.

I watched helplessly as my only sample was destroyed, feeling half angry with Bob and half mortified seeing the strength of that gunk. I had immediately taken a step back from it and warned the others, "Stay back! The fumes are toxic! And don't get it on your shoes or your skin – it'll eat right through them."

The judge was staring at it as it sizzled away at the asphalt. "What is it?"

Just a whiff of it started me coughing again. "Not sure, your Honor (Cough) Haven't had a chance to test it yet… maybe sulphur di-chloride or some similar compound." I was trying real hard to keep my voice steady, but just a trace of that stuff set me to coughing again and before I knew it I was down on my knees in the grass again.

But it appeared the sheriff wasn't quite ready to give up yet, "Your Honor, do we have to listen to these lies?"

"Just hold on," he told him, then turned to me. "What else have …? Come on inside and we can settle this,"

I couldn't get up, but I had to tell him. "They dug a pit to trap us … wall fell in (cough, cough) Mastodon skull … Schofield says he knows nothing about it."

The judge turned to me, "Schofield? Are you sure?"

I let my head bob up and down in an approximation of "Yes", "Met him in his office," I croaked out, "… with Bob here…. Dr. Johnson collected artifacts… in the pack… except the one in Bob's pocket." And that was all my voice would say. It had had it. I couldn't even cough anymore.

Now the judge, he was getting pretty hot, "But…SCHOFIELD? He was ordered to divest of all his ABD holdings he acquired while he was still the mayor!"

Just then another car pulled up in front and the Deputy Sheriff got out and the judge waved him over, "Hi there, Ron! Thank you for coming so quickly! Come inside, all of you."

That sheriff just jerked me to my feet… I could hardly feel my hands anymore, but when he did that it felt like the skin was coming off my hand, and as for my arm, well, it wasn't quite broken – I don't think. He first yelled at me to "Get going!" and then told the judge, "The things in that pack were confiscated as part of an investigation of this guy on charges of trespassing, kidnapping, burglary and theft. He stole them out of …"

Suddenly the phone rang and the judge put up his hand and turned to answer it, "Excuse me, Gentlemen." … "Yes, I'm here … yes. Go ahead. … Is that so? … Thank you for getting this information on such short notice! Good-bye …. Uh, What's that?... Hahaha! I will!" He hung up the phone thoughtfully, saying, "Mark? I think you can take those cuffs off of our guest. Now, let's see what's in this pack…"

While the judge was on the phone, I could see the sheriff and Bob nervously fingering their guns. So I faked a little coughing fit to work my way closer to the sheriff. As the judge reached for the pack, the sheriff drew his gun and backed toward the door, "That's far enough! Just hold it right there. Bob get the bag… "

Well, I was still cuffed, but I had learned a few handy hockey moves and plowed into the sheriff, knocking the gun free. I grabbed a metal floor lamp nearby and swung it at Bob who had just drawn his own gun. Bob fell like a wet rag while I doubled over in pain, having forgotten about my own injuries, and rolled onto my back on the floor.

The judge recovered the sheriff's gun and held it on him while Ron began cuffing Bob. As I struggled to my feet I finally looked around and let me tell ya, that judge was looking like a mad goalie I once knew. _Boy! I sure never want to have to tangle with him! _

He told Ron, "You are now the acting Sheriff. I want these two locked up. Sheriff? I'd like your badge, please? And Bob, I'll take the artifact you have in your pocket. Thank you. MacGyver? Thornton says to say 'Hi!' and asked about his niece? Oh, and that telephone number… tell me about it."

I wasn't altogether sure I could talk, but I managed to croak out some information, "Ah, it was a shack about four miles from the dump over very rough roads and maybe a wooden bridge? They were burying drums of chemicals in pits. Photos are in my pack. Schofield and Bob, among others. Did Pete get a location for it?"

As I spoke the judge was becoming more and more agitated. "Yes! He did! It's on MY LAND! WILDLIFE HABITAT! As of this moment, ABD is no longer in business and you people no longer own it. I am officially confiscating all your assets. Ron, get them out of here before I really get mad!"

I had no idea how much longer I was going to last without medical attention, but I had to get Elly. "Your Honor?" I started but suddenly had to run outside and got sick on the grass. Just then the Sylvania Town Fire & Rescue van pulled up and the paramedics rushed over to help me. It didn't feel so hot when one of them grabbed my arm. He did let go when I yowled in pain; then they led me to their van to look me over, but as soon as I saw an opening I made a break for Ben's truck. I got inside and shut the door just as they caught up to me, but the darn thing wouldn't start! I coaxed it with, "Come on…come on…!" They were tapping at the windows and trying the doors …

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Hehehe! More to come! R & R if you like! Two more chapters, I think?


	15. Chapter 15

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 15:

AN: I just need to thank those of you who have been following and favoriting and reviewing these stories. It's such a thrill to see how you're enjoying them! One major correction: I somehow fell asleep and deleted the correct Chapter Three, replacing it with Chapter Four – FOUR TIMES!. I Have had to rewrite chapter three and have now downloaded it for you. (Four times! Ugh!)

What a beautiful sound when the engine came to life! I steered that truck across the judge's lawn and onto the highway, headed for the cabin. In the mirror I could see the rescue van following. Of course the lights and sirens would have told me as much, _they were enough to let the whole county know that something was up over here._

Turning onto the trail to Ben's place, I was sure glad his truck would fit between the trees. Checking the mirror I saw that the van had stopped and the paramedics were following on foot. _Way to go, Ben! _But as I got closer, something didn't look quite right. No lights on. Nobody came out to see what all the hoopla was about. I jumped out of the truck and landed on all fours, again forgetting that I wasn't quite up to snuff. Ugh! Made it to the porch and kicked at the door but no-one was answering. "Ben! Elly! It's me, MacGyver!" I yelled as loud as my scratchy voice would allow, then put my ear to the door – no sounds from inside, so I did the next logical thing – I kicked the door in.

The place was empty! "ELLY! No!"

Then I noticed some fresh scratches on the floor, ending abruptly between two boards in the center of the room. Just then the paramedics burst into the room. I held up a hand to them, telling them, "Stay back!" I did a double-take and grinned to myself when I saw them complying. _ Well, whaddaya know? _ I glanced around the room and saw a shovel. _ Somehow these rural cabins seem to have all sorts of handy tools just standing around waiting to be used! _I used the tip of the shovel to carefully pry first one board and then another 'til I found the hidden trap door. I pushed Ben's nearly full water bucket to the edge of what I thought would be the opening, then lay down on the floor behind the bucket.

Levering the shovel with my right hand and left arm I pried the trap door open, only to have a shot-gun blast pepper the ceiling from below. I shoved the bucket so it spilled down into the opening, followed by the bucket itself.

Ben's voice came from below, "Yeaah! What the…?"

I inched forward and peered over the edge to see Ben dripping wet and kicking the bucket away from him. I tried real hard not to laugh. "Ben? Is that you?"

But he was mad as a hornet, "Of course, it's me! Who'd ya think was down here? Whatcha do that for? You got me drippin' wet!"

I was incredulous. Here I'd saved my own skin and kept him from doing something stupid – and he was hollering at me! "What? You could have killed me with that thing! Why didn't you answer me?"

I helped him up out of the cellar and handed him a towel, "We heard the sirens and figured it was the sheriff, so we hid."

"WE? Elly's down there? Elly!"

But just as I was about to head down the steps, one of the paramedics put a hand on my shoulder, "I'll get her." And he started down the ladder.

"Be careful," I called after him, "She's been through a lot. Don't think she can get back up the steps." I must have used just about the end of my strength getting in there cuz I was feeling kinda wobbly, but then I had to rush outside and got sick in the grass. I could faintly hear the paramedics discussing whether or not they needed a stretcher.

One of them, Mike, leaned down to me, "Think you could make it to the road?"

I thought about it for a minute before nodding my head, "Yeah"

"OK, cowboy, let's…" He grabbed my right arm to help me up when I yowled in pain and rolled away from him, holding my arm.

"Sorry Mac, I didn't mean to … Is there any place you're NOT hurt? Let's get this jacket off and take a look," as he stooped down next to me.

"Ugh… This is Ben's jacket, mine's inside on the chair…"

I wasn't aware that I'd been staring at the open cabin door until Mike said, "Don't worry. Jim knows what to do. His Dad has the same problem and gets those massive spasms once in awhile."

After he checked out my arm to make sure it wasn't broken and rebandaged the gunshot wounds, he draped my own jacket over my shoulders and led me to the waiting van. It was as if my body knew it didn't have to hold up anymore and I had another coughing fit that brought me to my knees. He was about to give me some water when I caught sight of Elly being carried out of the cabin. She looked over and smiled at me just before everything went black.

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Whew! Hope you are still enjoying this! R & R, if you like.


	16. Chapter 16

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 16:

AN: I just need to thank those of you who have been following and favoriting and reviewing these stories. It's such a thrill to see how you're enjoying them!

(MacGyver POV)

I slowly walked down the long hallway of the hospital. The docs had done a swell job of rebandaging my arm and they put something they called 'second skin' on my hand and rebandaged that as well and gave me some cough medicine and a medicated inhaler for my throat and lungs. Now I needed to see her. To say good-bye. _I hate good-byes._

Entering her room I could see she was feeling a little better, almost sitting up in a recliner, asleep.

"Elly?" I whispered hoarsely. "Elly?"

She turned, but when she saw me she started to cry. _ I hate it when women cry…_ "MacGyver! Oh, MacGyver! You're OK! They wouldn't tell me anything and …"

"How're you doing?" I gave her a gentle hug. "I'll heal. Understand you're leaving tomorrow. Going home, I suppose?" I pulled a chair over and sat down.

She suddenly got this defiant look to her, "Over my dead body! I've got work to finish!"

I couldn't believe this gal. How was she gonna work in her condition? "You're WHAT? But you … How will you manage?"

She got this coy look on her face, "Why, Mr. MacGyver, I didn't know you cared!"

You know how it feels when you start getting hot under the collar and it sorta spreads up over your face? They call it a blush. Well I call it downright uncomfortable. _How was I going to get out of this one?_ "Uh, just doing, er, following instructions … But how are you going to…?" _ Smooth, MacGyver. Real smooth!_

Elly was smiling. _ Well, I got her to do that much. And I soon found myself smiling back._

"Don't look so worried! I'll be fine! Marcie Robinson came to all my classes. She's a widow with two cats and an interest in archeology. She agreed to take care of me if I'll teach her something about what I'm doing here."

"Oh." Was about all I could manage. See, I was sort of hoping she'd ask me to stick around awhile and help her with her research.

She must've read my mind because the next thing she said made me feel… funny. "So you're leaving?"

_What was I supposed to say? That I wanted to stay and interfere with her plans?_ "Of course you are," she continued, " You've got to find someone who can help you fill out your reports and run your tests… I mean, since you can't use your hand… And I suppose there are people waiting for you… and Uncle Peter…"

I had to say something… anything, "Maybe when you're feeling better, you could come and visit … er, your Uncle Peter. I'm sure he'd love to see you!" _Ugh! Of all the stupid things to say! I shot up from the chair and walked away from her so she couldn't see my face, wincing at what I'd said._

Mac's change in demeanor worried Elly, "MacGyver? Is something wrong? With uncle Peter? MacGyver?"

_Oh brother! Could this get any worse? OK. Enough! _ "(sigh) You know what? I wish you two would just get together and stop using me for a go-between! This is a family affair between you and Pete and you guys have wedged me in between the two of you!"

"MacGyver…!" Elly was glaring at me now…

"Come on, Elly. He made me promise…" I winced when I realized what I'd said. _Way to go, Cyrano!_

Elly was livid. "WHAT? You promised him you'd keep a secret from me, but you won't promise me the same thing?!"

"He's my best friend … He's my BOSS! I didn't have much choice!" _This was not the way I wanted to leave her!_

"MAC-GYVER!"

_OK. I got an idea…_

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Rather than stretch this out for two more pages, I'll split this last chapter in two, OK? LOL. R & R, please.


	17. Chapter 17

A Family Affair: A MacGyver Story

By Judybear

So Pete has this great idea to maybe play cupid with Mac, but of course, whenever MacGyver is involved, things don't go exactly according to plan!

Chapter 17:

(MacGyver POV)

_Now, I didn't want Elly getting all worked up, but she was getting pretty hot about my promise to Pete not to tell her about his, well, problem and at the same time not completely promising her not to tell him about her, uh, little problem. I could see what was going on here, but somehow that understanding didn't extend to either of them!_

_And Elly was on the verge of, well, hurting herself. _"MAC-GYVER!"

"OK, OK … I have an idea…"

She didn't say it, but I could see by her expression that she was thinking, _"This better be good!"_

"How about if I won't tell Pete about your … problem. BUT, if you want to find out what Pete's problem is, you're going to have to come and visit him in person." _ Now I thought I was being mighty clever, but apparently she didn't have the same idea._

"You…? I…? But that's not FAIR!"

"Fair? FAIR? You call the two of you saddling me with secrets to keep from each other FAIR?" I threw out my bandaged hand for emphasis, suddenly remembering the small object I'd been carrying in it. "OH! Uh, I almost forgot… Here." And I thrust the small object at her. "This is for you…"

I completely caught her off-guard, "What? For me?" She slowly turned the little object over and over in her hand. I had seen it in one of the shops in town and thought it'd be perfect for her: a little gold charm in the shape of a fedora. "It's lovely… but, a hat?"

"Uh, an 'Indiana Jones' hat. After the other night I thought you might appreciate it. Oh! And…" and I started searching my pockets that I could reach trying to remember what I'd done with the chain… until I remembered and got that warm feeling creeping up my face again. "Uh, could you sorta… reach into my pocket?" She looked at me with a puzzled expression. I cleared my throat, "Uh, my jeans?" as I held out my over-bandaged hand that would in no way fit into that pocket.

She smirked as I got hotter and hotter, then she started chuckling at my discomfort while rooting around in my pocket, "Just what is it I'm supposed to be looking for?... Oh! Some kind of a chain maybe?"

"Yeah. That's it." I told her, very much relieved when she brought it out.

"Well thank you … but you really didn't have to buy me anything."

"I know. I just…" I took a deep breath and let some of it out before looking directly at her. "I wanted to… Elly, I…"

"When does your plane leave?" _Boy! She sure knew how to cut to the chase!_

Reluctantly I told her, "Pretty soon. I have to go."

"Thank you, MacGyver… for everything. I mean it… everything."

I tried to smile but I'm afraid it came off as more of a grimace, "You're welcome. And if you don't come out for a visit, I'll come back and get you!"

She almost looked hopeful. "Promise?"

I started to nod my head, then stopped and looked at her and with a sad smile, said, "Promise." And turned toward the door. I turned back and Elly had slid the charm onto the chain and put it to her lips as tears welled up in her eyes. _I REALLY hate good-byes! _She turned away from the door as I left, my own eyes starting to blur.

I headed down the hallway toward the exit, muttering to myself in time with my steps, "She's Pete's niece. Don't get involved! She's Pete's niece. Don't get involved! She's Pete's niece… This is NUTS! I AM involved.

"Pete, why do you always find some way to make simple things so … complicated?" I looked around and was not entirely surprised to find myself standing in front of Elly's door. I hesitated before going in.

"I'm not feeling very well right now. Just set the tray on the table and I'll get to it later." I could hear the tears in her voice and they matched the ones that were appearing in my own eyes.

I gently reached out and touched her shoulder, "Elly, I couldn't …" and stooped down beside her bed.

She looked up, her eyes teary, her face wet, and sucked in her breath, "Uh! MacGyver! OH!" and we embraced like we hadn't seen each other for years. She threw her arms around my neck and I kissed her – hesitantly at first – but when she responded I kissed her like I really meant it and when she kissed me back, well, it just felt like it was always supposed to be that way. I smirked when I could feel the charm on the end of its chain dangling down the back of my shoulder.

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A few hours later, in an office in far-away Los Angeles, Pete sat at his desk reading a message from MacGyver, "'Loose ends' he says? Hah! I'll bet! I should have thought up this scheme a long time ago! Hah! Hahahahaha!"

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